Trunk-tray.



W. A. SIMMONS.

TRUNK TRAY.

APPLICATION FILED APB... 10, 1911.

1,038,009, A Patented sept. 10, 1912.

nu" man i In UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. SIMMONS, 0F KIRKWOOD, MISSOURI.

TRUNK-TRAY.

To all 'whom it mag/concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. SIMMONS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Kirkwood, St. Louis county, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunk-Trays, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference beingr had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to improvements in trunk trays, and has for its object the construction of a tray to support an apparel coat or coats andin which there are formed one or more pockets to receive the bulky shoulder and sleeve head padding of the coat, so that the coat proper and the sleeves may be held upon a broad support-ing surface when in a flat condition and hence carried on the body7 of the tray surrounding the pockets so that the coats are kept in a neat and pressed condition.

With the above purposes in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangements of parts as will be hereinafter ymore fully described, pointed out in the claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan of a tray constructed according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse, sectional elevation of a tray taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.` l; and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, sectional elevation of a trunk having a number of my improved trays therein and shows the positions of the coats on the tray.

Referring by numerals to the accompany` ing drawings: 1 designates the frame of my improved t-ray which is preferably rectangular and constructed of material which is light in weight and yet rigid enough to be non-collapsible.

2 2 designate sheets of material, the margins of which are secured to the frame l on the top and bottom faces of the frame so that the sheets will be spaced apart a distance equivalent to the thickness of the frame, which dimension is governed by the character of the garments to be supported, and over the topr of the uppermost sheet there is a felt covering 3 and over the bottom of the lowermost sheet there is a felt covering 4. Each of the sheets and their felt coverings, when these latter are employed, is apertured, the apertures in the two sheets being directly opposed one above the other, and

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1912".`

Application filed April 10, 1911. Serial No. 620,168.

there being referably four of them in each sheet of each tray, as at 5, 6, 7 and S, the apertures each beingsubstantially oval in outline and the major of eachaperture disposed at an angle relative the longitudinal line drawn through the tray. Secured to each end of the frame there is a flexible handle 9. Secured to the frame members lying between the sheets and spanning the apertures are the'crossed tapes 10 and 11.

12 designates a trunk of ordinary cony struct-ion.

In the use of my improved tray assuming it to be of the type shown in the drawings, that is one having four apertures and arranged to receive four coats, the coats are each folded along their back seams as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l, the bulk of padding for the shoulders and the sleeve heads being placed in the apertures 5, 6, 7 and 8, the in'- clineof the apertures being approximately the same as the incline of the sleeves which, when the coat is folded, assume a position diagonally of the trend of the coat. The trays may be packed outside of the trunk and when this is the case the tapes l() and 1lv` prevent displacement of the padding by gravity through the apertures. In other wo-rds, by the employment of the tapes I find it practical to load or place the coats on the trays outside of the trunk and the trays may be carried to the trunk without shifting or changing the positions of the coats by falling thro-ugh t-he apertures or sliding upon the supporting surface on which they lie.

In Fig. 3 of the drawing I illustrate a number o-f trays with coats thereon. It is to be observed that the apertures form pockets which receive the bulky part of a coat, namelythe padding of the shoulders and sleeve heads, and thus the balance of the coat may be held in a perfectly flat condition, on the smooth exposed supporting surface of the tray, and by reason ofthe padding referred to being held in said pockets, the coats are prevented from shifting lengthwise of the trunk.

In practice I find that coats carried on trays constructed according to my invention arrive at their destination, after a long period of transportation and after much handling by expressmen. and the like, in practically the same condition as when packed.

W'hile I have shown and described the tray as being formed with two spaced apart sheets, in each of which are four apertures,

and the exposed surface 0f the sheets covered with felt, these are mere incidents of construction, and are adopted as thereby a tray of very light weight and with suliicient strength for the purposes of the invention. isr produced. It is important that the tray shall have considerable thickness between its two opposite exposed surfaces in order to accommodate in the described apertures the considerably increased thickness of the coats at the padded shoulder parts thereof. It is also important that the upper supporting surface of the tray, on which the coats lie, shall be smooth, and that the opposite, lower, exposed surface of the tray shall also be smooth, so that the garment-s when in place between two trays and held under some pres sure, as represented in Fig. 3, shall not be exposed to influences which cause them to become wrinkled or forced out of shape. It is apparent that the pressing feature of the trays is obtainable when two or more ofv them are used in conjunction as described and represented in said Fig. 3. Vhen thus arranged the garments on each lower tray are held in place securely pressed against the supporting surface thereof by the tray above, any shifting of the garments being prevented by reason of the 'thick bulky portions of the garment lying in the registering openings, 5, 6, etc.

When a garment, such as an apparel coat is folded on a median line of its back and rplaced between two trays constructed accor-ding to my invention the lowermost 3 shoulder pad and sleeve head will occupy the space beneath the top sheet of the lowermost tray, and the uppermost shoulder pad and sleeve head will occupy the space above the lowermost sheet of the upper tray, and the tops of the trays around the openings will press the coat around said shoulder pads and sleeve heads.

I claim:

In combination with a trunk, a plurality 4 of superimposed trays, each tray having its upper and lower surfaces spaced a considerabledistance apart, and there being an a ierture extended entirely through the tray, wiereby when apparel coats or like garments are placed between the trays with their bulky portions occupying said apertures the coats will be held in a pressed condit-ion and the bulky portions prevent lateral or longitudinal movements of the coats rela- 5 tive the trays. i

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM A. SIMMONS.

Witnesses:

E. E. LONGAN, E. L. IVALLACE.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

